More ugly news for Nevada on foreclosures, home prices

Two more real estate reports, another blast of bad news for the Nevada market.

Foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac, of Irvine, Calif., issued national statistics for October and, as usual, Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate.

RealtyTrac said foreclosures were filed on one of every 180 Nevada housing units in October, while the national rate was one in every 563 units.

Nevada led the nation despite a 34 percent month-to-month decline in filings in the state, a situation analysts called temporary. They attributed it to banks adjusting to a new state law requiring foreclosing lenders to sign and record in public records an affidavit with key information about each foreclosure, RealtyTrac said.

The 1,201 new defaults in Nevada in October was the lowest since June 2006, RealtyTrac said.

Las Vegas, after 22 consecutive months posting the nation’s highest foreclosure rate among cities with populations of 200,000 or more, came in at No. 5 in October. Analysts chalked up the fall in the rankings to a temporary decline in foreclosure filings stemming from the new law.

One in every 162 housing units in Las Vegas received a filing in October, still more than three times the national average.

Leading the nation in foreclosure filings in October among the larger metro areas was Stockton, Calif., with a filing for every 143 housing units.

RealtyTrac said that despite the Nevada slowdown, foreclosure activity had picked up nationwide as banks started coming “out of the rain delay we’ve been in for the past year as lenders corrected foreclosure paperwork and processing problems.”

“However, recent state court rulings and new state laws keep changing the rules of the foreclosure game on the fly, creating more uncertainty in the housing market and threatening to prolong the road to a robust real estate recovery,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement.

Separately, the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes were released Wednesday on home price trends in Las Vegas and hundreds more metro areas.

The latest Case-Shiller numbers for the Las Vegas metro area show that after local home prices fell on average 6.2 percent from the second quarter of 2010 to the second quarter of 2011, they’re expected to fall 15.9 percent between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012.

That compares with a national projected price decline of 3.6 percent between the second quarters of 2011 and 2012.

In a nutshell, the nation’s most overheated housing market became its hardest hit during the recession due to a confluence of factors, including many homeowners becoming unable to pay mortgages they never should have qualified for and unemployment soaring to unheard of levels locally, currently 13.6 percent.

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Discussion 7 comments

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Maybe we can put to bed this idea that things are getting better on the economic front. From housing to unemployment to shrinking wages and benefits...this country is seeing more and more people who will never see the American dream. Sad state of affairs.

Meanwhile, CNN Money today posted a positive article about Las Vegas real estate, and how the flood of all-cash investor money and the (slight) drop in unemployment are the first signs of a market poised for rebound. Interesting.

@ James_P_Reza (James Reza) - And you believe that? Wow. You'd think after the mainstream media pumped up the housing market the first time people would learn their lesson, but nope, not in America.

It's hard to attract buyers when the homes are built with cheap materials, built by cheap labor, and on property the size of a postage stamp in the middle of the desert next to a nuclear waste dump...

This city did it to itself. You can't just rubberband back to infinite growth. You had your growth cycle and you decided to hustle people so now you can deal with the consequences.

Let's not forget the power of negativity either. This city left a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths, 1 persons negativity can affect a lot of people. And it wasn't just poor folks who got robbed here.

This place has taxes as it's main advantage. Once prices rise there is literally no reason to live here.

Keep dreaming. However, your positive thinking is admirable. And what is so good about investors coming in and buying properties? That was the start of a lot of the problems in the first place. There are not enough people coming to Vegas to live in these homes, whether they buy a home or rent one. Maybe, just maybe, when jobs are available, maybe then people will come. A restaurant opening here and there and hiring 100 people isn't going to cut it. Jobs are hard to find ANYWHERE!

Things are tough all over the country. When things do start to improve, Vegas will take the longest to bounce back.

If we really wanted to get out of the housing 'crisis' uncle sugar could...Prop up any bank who agreed to..Allow the underwater homeowner [or any home owner] to repay their mortgage without interest except for a 1% loan management fee with the 1% being a fixed %age of the initial loan for the life of the loan i.e. a 200,000 dollar loan would require the borrower to repay a 2,000 dollar 'loan management' fee for the life of the loan.Thus a 200,000 dollar 20 year loan would require a monthly repayment of 833.00 + the 'loan management fee of 167.00 which would make a monthly payement of 1,000 dollars which is approx. equal to an apt.rental unit in LV.In 20 yrs. the bank would recoup 240,000 dollars for the house that they are repossessing today and reselling for approx. 100,000 bucks.Uncle sam could treat any mortgage that functioned under this repayment plan as a CAPITOL GAINS investment with taxes collected on it when the house is sold or the owner takes out a equity loan except for educational loans or medical bills.My home is payed off so I'm not suggesting this idea to 'feather' my nest.

Your lack of understanding about markets is your problem, as is your willingness to make an assessment of something you haven't read. The CNN story clearly states that 200,000 people have moved to Las Vegas since the recession began.

My optimism is admirable? It's not my optimism; it's the CNN Money reporter's. Why not go troll anonymously over there? As I recall, you don't even live here.

"It's hard to attract buyers when the homes are built with cheap materials ..... This city did it to itself."

TheSerfAttack -- I lived in one near Lone Mountain most of last year, biggest and nicest house I'd ever lived in. Cheap and flimsy only begins to describe it, falling apart after only two years. Yet it must be assumed in spite of the cardboard doors and frames, etc., it passed all required city/county/state inspections.

"And what is so good about investors coming in and buying properties? That was the start of a lot of the problems in the first place."

Det_Munch -- actually, the start of the problems is one of those big feces sandwiches where investors are in line with a lot of other players. Like Congress, the White House, the banks and all their evil minions, they're all due to take a bite.

"If we really wanted to get out of the housing 'crisis' uncle sugar could...Prop up any bank who agreed to.."

pmart -- a lot of the problem is government propping up the banks. As a case in Utah illustrated, the foreclosure frenzy is fueled largely by that quasi-government agency, FHA, insuring the banks will be paid in full when taking possession, and it doesn't matter they don't even own the Notes! Check that out @ http://www.ksl.com/?nid=322&sid=1464...

"...I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." -- Thomas Jefferson in his May 28, 1816, letter to John Taylor

Banks should not be able to sell their toxic notes for cash and collect PMI or bailouts without removing that asset from the market. My neighborhood had actually held up remarkably well for the past FOUR years, but not now.

Further proof that the end to this mess is no where in sight. I hope the lost decade is just limited to 10 years. This will all get worse once Europe implodes on itself and the ripple affect hits the financial markets here. 2012 may not be the end of the world but it might be for the financial system. Hang on to your girdle granma, this ride ain't over.

I'll stick to commenting on the article and not personal attacks. The Las Vegas economy thrived on tourism and construction, until the bust. Contruction will not come back any time soon (there's just too many vacant homes), and even when it does it will be at a much more realistic pace. The tourism aspect, as everyone knows, is just going to take time. We are in a recession, and people cut back on things. Vacations are the first to go. I'm sorry for the people whose homes have dropped in price, but any time you buy a home, it's a gamble. You buy what you can pay for. If the price goes up, you don't share that money with the bank. There is no reason the bank should have to compensate owners for their loss if the price drops.

I'm not saying the CNN article doesn't exist; it does. And yes I read it and my assessment hasn't changed. The alleged facts fly in the face of what really has been happening.

But you are dreaming if you totally believe in the whole article!!

These 200,000 people that have allegedly moved to Vegas since the recession began - where are they now? Do you believe all 200,000 are STILL in Vegas?? I got a kick out of the paragraph about job growth!!

I was wondering about something: Since this is such a positive article (finally) about Las Vegas - why hasn't the Sun picked up on it???? They've published articles before and gave credit where credit was due. Why haven't the people of Las Vegas been able to read something positive about their City? Not everyone thinks of reading CNN Money online.

It means nothing that I don't live in Vegas. What's your point? Did for 7 years during the boom to bust period. I still have many friends there that I keep in touch with regularly so nothing I read on CNN is going to change the truth of how it really is. Hell, just read comments from the regulars here who are locals!

I think the housing issue/crisis is the biggest issue holding back the American economy, especially in the middle class.

I'm confused as to why the banks don't renegotiate the principal balances on these homes based on current appraisals, and add some language that they also receive any gain above the renegotiated rate when the owner sells the property, up to the original amount of the loan. And that clause transfers if the owner refinances. They could at least offer an olive branch and structure something where they're not negatively affected at all. They have enough data to know what to expect if/when they foreclose on a house. Adjust the principal balance to at least that amount, so that the banks aren't hurt and the owners get to keep their house. Right now, homeowners are being hurt and the banks don't appear to be attempting to do anything about it, even if it has a minimal impact on their bottom line.

It's not the interest rate that's killing homeowners, it's the inflated principal balances. If anyone wants to do something about the problem, that's where they should start. I get the whole "fulfill your obligation" mentality, but we can't ignore that the banks also made some huge mistakes, and they should do what they can to make it right.

Yes, it's great to see investors coming in to buy up these 'cheap' homes. It's not so great to see those 'foreclosed' signs changed to 'for rent' signs.The homes are still vacant, just under different circumstances.

Good article, exactly what I've been saying all along. Vegas will not recover without jobs, thus the housing market will not recover either. Investors are losing their shirts, and its hard for me to be sympathetic. They thought they were getting a good deal, who's laughing now uh? You thought nothing of the homeowners who were attempting to refi but denied because you were all standing in line to give banks your cash, now your in the position of losing the properties too!! hahahaNow to JPR, you always have an issue with people who don't live in Vegas responding to articles. Many people have lived there prior and left but still have valid insight into the issues that plague that city. 200,000+ people have LEFT there, just check statistics with Uhaul and Penske truck rentals. That tells the true story, not CNN. They are trying to buffalo people AGAIN to go there and buy NOW before the prices go up. Don't listen to national media, read your local paper and you'll get the truth and nothing but the truth!

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